Do you know what we are fighting for?

Those are just some of the issues from my end. I am sure the committee will come out with more. One more issue that could be considered would be, just like for Senators, you can only serve a maximum of TWO terms. If Senators can only serve for two terms then why can’t Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons also do the same? Why do Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons serve for life while Senators can only serve for two terms?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(New Straits Times) - The parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms will be headed by a minister with eight members of parliament, including from the opposition and an independent.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, said the formation of the committee was approved by the cabinet yesterday and a motion on it would be tabled at the next parliamentary session in October.

The committee will have five representatives from Barisan Nasional, three from the opposition and one independent.

Nazri said the cabinet also agreed to meet with the Election Commission soon to discuss the framework of the committee.

Read more: 9 to sit on polls panel http://www.nst.com.my/articles/9tositonpollspanel/Article/

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Probably 50,000 or so Malaysians came out for the BERSIH march on 9th July 2011. There were marches simultaneously organised all over the world in more than 30 cities. And the reason you marched is because you want to see electoral reforms.

But are you clear on exactly what type of reforms you would like to see? If you were asked to deliver a talk on electoral reforms would you know what to say? Well, maybe we can discuss that matter today.

1. The first issue would be regarding disenfranchised voters.

About one million or so Malaysians live outside Malaysia, according to what the Minister told Parliament. But most of these one million Malaysians can’t vote during the general elections.

If you were to look at Article 119 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia (below), you can see that there is a provision in the Constitution for overseas Malaysians to vote (or, if not so resident, is an absent voter). These overseas Malaysians would be regarded as ‘absent voter’.

So this is the first reform we need: to ensure the right of overseas Malaysians to vote.

2. Next would be the variance between seats.

Currently, the differential between Parliament seats is as low as 5,000 voters to as high as 125,000. This variance is too large. The variance should be not more than 20% plus-minus (or even 15% if possible, which would be better).

That means we need to set the ‘benchmark’ for each Parliament seat. For example, if the benchmark is fixed at 50,000 voters, then each Parliament seat should be between 40,000 to 60,000 voters (to achieve the 20% plus-minus variance).

For state seats the benchmark would, of course, be lower. If it is going to be 50,000 voters for Parliament seats, then for state seats it can be 20,000-25,000 voters.

Now, assuming we have a total of 15 million registered voters and the benchmark for Parliament seats is 50,000, this would mean we would have 300 Members of Parliament. If this is too many then the benchmark can be increased to 60,000 voters. Then the number of Members of Parliament would be reduced to 250 (from the current 222) -- or 65,000 voters if you want it to be reduced further to 230 Members of Parliament.

Anyway, this is for the committee to decide. The important thing, however, is that there must be a variance of 20% to 25%, plus-minus, between the Parliament seats. We can’t have one seat as low as 5,000 voters and another as high as 125,000 voters. This is just not on.

And if the state seats are half the number of voters for Parliament seats, then we will have two state seats in one Parliament constituency and twice the number of State Assemblypersons as there are Parliamentarians.

3. Third would be the voting age.

Currently, you can own a gun, get married, drive a car, work, get hanged for the crime of murder/drugs, etc., at 18 (and ride a bike at 16). But you can’t vote at 18.

Imagine that! The government treats you like an adult and takes your life at 18. But the government will not allow you to vote. The government trusts you enough to drive a car and raise a family at 18. But the government does not trust you to vote.

The voting age needs to be 18 and not 21. If you can hang an 18-year old Malaysian, then he or she certainly has a right to vote at that age. If an 18-year old is old enough to have a wife/husband and children, then he or she is certainly old enough to vote.

4. The other issues, of course, involve gerrymandering (which will be addressed once we address the issue of the variance between seats), fraud (which needs to be addressed through some detection method so that people can’t vote more than once), postal votes (postal voting should be your choice like in the UK and not by compulsion like in Malaysia), etc.

5. Another issue I would like to see addressed is compulsory voting.

A law should be passed to make it compulsory for all citizens to vote. If you do not vote then the government should impose a RM1,000 fine on these people.

Australia has this system.

Furthermore, when you apply for a loan, credit card, hire purchase finance, electricity/water supply, telephone/internet, and so on, two documents need to be produced. One would be your identity card and the other your voter registration slip.

In short, if you do not have BOTH an identity card and a voter registration slip then you do not exist. You are a ‘ghost’. You can’t get a loan, credit card, electricity/water supply, telephone/internet, and so on.

Your proof of address and your proof of existence will be in both your identity card and voter registration slip. If you do not have an identity card PLUS a voter registration slip then you are not a Malaysian. In fact, you are not even a person. You just do not exist.

6. Those are just some of the issues from my end. I am sure the committee will come out with more. One more issue that could be considered would be, just like for Senators, you can only serve a maximum of TWO terms.If Senators can only serve for two terms then why can’t Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons also do the same? Why do Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons serve for life while Senators can only serve for two terms?

If we impose a two-term rule for Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons, this will ensure that the old cocks and old hags will be retired to make way for fresh meat.

7. Oh, and one last thing, are we brave enough to follow the example of some other countries and make it law that not less than 30% of the candidates contesting the election must be women?

Yes, in some countries this is law (I think Sweden is one such country). And since more than 52% of Malaysian voters are women (yes, only 48% men vote) why should the candidates not, by law, be not less than 30% women?

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Article 119 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia

(1) Every citizen who -

(a) has attained the age of twenty-one years on the qualifying date; and

(b) is resident in a constituency on such qualifying date or, if not so resident, is an absent voter,

is entitled to vote in that constituency in any election to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly unless he is disqualified under Clause (3) or under any law relating to offences committed in connection with elections; but no person shall in the same election vote in more than one constituency.